The State of Instructional Design, 2024
Four initial results from a global survey I ran with Synthesia
In September, I partnered with Synthesia to conduct a comprehensive survey exploring the evolving landscape of instructional design.
Our timing was deliberate: as we witness the rapid advancement of AI and increasing pressure on learning teams to drive mass re-skilling and deliver more with less, we wanted to understand how the role of instructional designers is changing.
The response from the community was overwhelming; thanks to the ~500 of you who took the time to share your insights on everything from your day to day tasks, the tools you love (and hate!) to use, what you love about your role and what’s challenging.
Our survey focused on five key areas that we believed would help surface the most important data about the transformation of our field:
Roles & Responsibilities: who's designing learning experiences in 2024?
Success Metrics: how do you and the organisations you work for measure the value of instructional design?
Workload & Workflow: how much time do we spend on different aspects of our job, and why?
Challenges & Barriers: what sorts of obstacles prevent us from producing optimal work?
Tools & Technology: what tools do we use, and is the tooling landscape changing?
This week, as we prepare the release of the official survey report, I want to share an exclusive sneak peak at some of the findings from the survey with you.
Let’s go! 🚀
Four Initial Findings
1. The Rise of the SME-Designer
One of our most striking discoveries was the diversification of who actually designs learning. While the majority of those who responded were full or part time instructional designers, almost one third of respondents were Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who have taken on instructional design responsibilities as part of a different role.
This perhaps represents a shift from the traditional model where SMEs act as content providers and consultants for instructional designers. Rather than trying to turn instructional designers into SMEs through consultation with experts, we are seeing a new trend of trying to turn SMEs into instructional designers, with interesting implications for the role and skill set of the instructional designer.
As an aside, this is a trend I have also witnessed in instructional design job postings which increasingly require instructional designers to have not only instructional design experience and expertise but also domain specific knowledge.
2. From Completion Rates to Performance Impact
In 2018, Bates’ research showed that the most common measure of success for instructional designers were in-course stats, specifically completion rates and test scores.
The results from our survey suggests that this might be changing in a way that indicates the maturing of the field. 40% of respondents reported that the success of their work is measured through learner performance on the job, rather than in-course stats.
How are they doing this? Some initial follow-up interviewing suggests three key sub-trends:
1. Self-Reported Measures
Learner confidence assessments (pre/post training)
Learner skills assessments (pre/post training)
Self-evaluation of job performance improvement
Behavioural change self-assessments
Direct Performance Indicators
Gathering manager feedback on employee performance post-training
Measuring error rate reductions in specific tasks
Measuring project completion rates & quality metrics, mapped to training interventions
Indirect Performance Metrics
Measuring things like reductions in support tickets for specific processes which have been supported by training
Customer satisfaction scores in areas which have been supported by training
Process compliance rates for processes which have been supported by training
What about those whose performance isn’t measured by on the ground performance?
For many of us, our success is still measured using more traditional metrics which have little to do with the real value and impact of our design work:
21% of us are measured through (famously problematic) immediate learner feedback surveys.
Another 21% of us are still measured primarily through efficiency rather than effectiveness - i.e. how quickly we can go from a design request to a learner-ready learning experience.
3. Instructional Designers are Primarily Instructional Developers
Another question we asked was, how much time do you spend on each stage of your process?
The result was very similar to results that we have seen in other industry surveys over the last couple of decades: instructional designers spend the majority (~60%) of their time developing content and managing projects. Here’s the breakdown:
Analysis: 17.6%
Design: 22.4%
Development & Implementation: 38.5%
Evaluation: 9.5%
Admin & Project Management: 11.9%
These numbers confirm a long term trend in instructional design where instructional designers spend more time on content creation and project management that they spend on where in theory they bring most value: analysis, design and evaluation.
This is particularly significant when we keep in mind that according to respondents, the biggest barrier to the optimising the quality and impact of their work was, “limited time for analysis and design”.
4. The Use of AI is Ramping Up
The technology adoption data tells a clear story about an industry in transition:
84% of respondents have experimented with ChatGPT
57% of respondents consider ChatGPT as their primary design tool
Content generation tools like Synthesia & are also gaining significant traction, although yet to impact significantly on the time to dedicate to development
At the same time, many respondents expressed frustration with what were referred to as "outdated" tools like Storyline and Camtasia, perhaps suggesting that the industry is at a technological inflection point and ripe for disruption via next-gen tooling.
Looking Ahead: The Full Report
This preview offers just a glimpse of our findings. Our upcoming comprehensive report will dive deeper into:
Roles & Responsibilities: what’s the full range of role types designing learning experiences in 2024?
Success Metrics: additional details on how orgs measure the value of instructional design.
Workload & Workflow: a detailed analysis of much time do we spend on different aspects of our job, and how this is changing.
Challenges & Barriers: a deep dive on the obstacles that prevent us from producing optimal work.
Tools & Technology: what tools are in our toolkit? Which would like to add and which would we like to get rid off?
Stay tuned for the complete report, where we'll provide actionable insights to help you to navigate this evolving landscape.
In the meantime, congrats to the two respondents who won a place on my AI & Learning Design bootcamp - I’m so excited to work with you!
Here’s an AI avatar revealing the winners!
Happy innovating!
Phil 👋
PS: If you want to hone and update your instructional design skills and stay ahead of the pack, apply for a place on my AI & Learning Design Bootcamp.